I have definitely been following the story of Ibinabo
Fiberesima since 2005 and must admit that the stories that actually led to her
5 year jail sentence have been different across boards. Miss Fiberesima, a
mother of two, was convicted of drunk and reckless driving in 2005 by a Lagos magistrate
court. The court found she had caused the death of one Dr. Giwa Suraj in a car
crash on Lekki-Epe express way.
She was then immediately tried in the court in 2009 by the
Lagos State government and was convicted with a sentence of 5 years
imprisonment. The magistrate court had earlier given her option to pay a fine of N100, 000. This was however countered in 2009 and was replaced with a 5-year jail term.
The family of the deceased was said to have sued her for
N200million while rumour had it that she settled out of court with the family
of the deceased for a sum of N50million. In 2016, the case was however
revisited which has finally led to a 5-year jail term with no option of fine. One
will want to question if the family of the deceased was in anyway ever settled out
of court.
In 2014, Ibinabo was interviewed by a journalist and the issue
of manslaughter case was again brought up and these were her responses.
‘Interviewer:
What do you have to say to the views of some people who might still see you as
an ex-convict? Were you ever convicted in the 2009 case?’
‘Ibinabo: This is
the last time I am going to answer this question on any public platform, it
ends here. The reason is that the accident experience was and still the most
painful experience in my life. A precious life was lost, a lover, a husband and
a father. I am a woman and a mother at that. How does one stomach such a
painful loss? Heavens know that I would willingly give anything to have that
life back and wipe away the pain in the heart of the family I unintentionally
caused such pain.
 |
| Late Doctor Giwa Suraj |
I am truly sorry. I could say it a million times but words
will not be enough, yet some individuals will still bring such issues up to
score cheap points and ignore the fact that every time they bring up this issue
they force the family of the deceased to revive the pain, but they will not
mind as long as I suffer the same pain. Please stop it.
Also, I will not want condescend so as to go head to head
with people that have never led an organisation half the size of AGN. I
consider them as mere distractions. THE MATTER OF MY STATUS HAS BEEN THRASHED
OUT IN COURT.
I have talked about the accident on Superscreen TV(Now TVC)
and it ends there. Thanks for all the support I get from my good people, you
give me strength and I promise I will not let you down’.
The jail sentence of Ibinabo could also have been due to the
fact that she dishonored the court by failing to appear in person in 2009. The
presiding, Justice Deborah Oluwayemi was definitely not pleased with Ibinabo
decision to neglect the court proceedings by failing to appear in court. The
justice was quoted to have said this in 2009; ‘Ibinabo Fiberesima had appealed against her five-year
sentence but did not attend the hearing in Lagos. Miss Fiberesima should be in
jail while she files her appeal. She had tried to use her wealth and
connections to avoid jail.
We should not give Nigerians the impression that because
someone is related to a ‘big man’ in the society then such individual can
ignore court order’. Miss Fiberesima’s Lawyer said she was receiving medical
treatment for typhoid in the southern city of Port Harcourt, and couldn’t
attend the hearing. I indulged her throughout the proceedings as she did not
appear in court. Fiberesima is entitled to appear even to the Supreme Court but
she must be at the proper place, that is the prison yard’, Justice Oluwayemi
said.
Ibinabo seem to have received a harsh reaction from the
court based on the fact that she failed to attend court proceedings in the
past. This appears to have gotten the Justice in charge angry and may have
contributed to the jail sentence again with no option of fine this time.
However, looking at the eyewitnesses stories, one would make out different
things from what they have both said. The two stories are obviously confusing.
First Eyewitness
Story
One Charles Novia claimed to be at the scene of the accident
and gave report that Ibinabo was also in coma while in her car after the
accident. His account of the story was that after the car crash, Ibinabo’s car
was also flung not too far to the deceased car. While the crowd gave much attention
to the crushed car of the deceased and no one paid attention to Ibinabo’s car.
The said Charles then took it upon himself to see the state of the people in
the other car only to find out that Ibinabo was also in coma and in dire need
of medical attention. Charles claimed to have looked for a cab to convey
Ibinabo to St Nicholas hospital immediately.
After about 10 years, Charles ran into Ibinabo in a restaurant
in Rivers state and told her how he rescued her during the accident and since
then they got to know.
Confusion
Could a fatal accident involving two cars have happened on
the highway and only one of the cars will catch the attention of sympathizers?
Would the crowd leave the other victim in the car while they watched the Good Samaritan
Charles Novia to single handedly take the initiative to find out what was wrong
at the other side and also watched him convey a victim in coma to the hospital
all alone.
All through the time Ibinabo needed a medical story to
present at the court of law to back her absence, I am sure her mind must have
gone to Charles as a perfect witness. The fact that the issue came up again in
2016 and Ibinabo still did not deemed it fit to call on Charles to be one of
her witness to save her from jail makes Charles’ story to look like another
attention seeking chap.
Second Eyewitness
Story
The man, based in the United States was alleged to be a
family member of the deceased doctor. He was also in another car on the same
spot when the accident happened. He narrated that while they were in traffic
going towards Lagos Island; Ibinabo’s car left her lane and came to crash the
doctor’s car. Ibinabo’s car was said to be on top of the doctor’s car leading
to his instant death.
 |
| Ibinabo and family |
The man also claimed that the number plates were immediately
removed from Ibinabo’s car after the accident and she took to her heels with
the number plates and other identification documents before the crowd would lynch
her. It was one of the sympathizers that identified her as Ibinabo and a
Nigerian Nollywood actress.
Confusion
This perfectly negates the Charles Novia’s story as someone
who was in coma couldn’t have been responsible for removing number plates and
said documents. How will someone have possibly escaped being mopped by the
crowd if after causing an accident, the next thing one does is to remove number
plates and tries to make a speedy escape while the crowds watch? This is pretty
much questionable to an extent.
We definitely know that the court must have had substantial
evidences which would have warranted the sentence and couldn’t have acted based
on annoyance that Ibinabo disregarded court orders to appear in person during
court proceedings. One might also gather that the fight for Justice by the
families of the deceased remained '
un-quenched' even years after the incident.
Do you think the Court Over-reacted in giving its judgment
or perhaps the family of the deceased should have tempered justice some way?
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